Refugees have lost their home, family, friends, and livelihoods. They arrive in the UK with no support networks, and often no English, resulting in isolation and poor mental health. Upbeat connects refugees into life-giving community, particularly in the critical first few months of living here.
Categories
Beneficiaries
Impact areas
Every week, new asylum seekers arrive in Derby, having escaped horrific violence and persecution. They face many difficulties including isolation, poor mental health, and trauma from their home countries. They are many miles from support networks, and there are many barriers to their integration into UK communities, including language, cultural differences, and a hostile asylum system. Support from government services is very limited in the first 6 months; Upbeat exists to fill some of this gap.
Upbeat welcomes asylum seekers and connects them with others seeking refuge and with British people, building community and belonging to combat isolation. We run free English classes to help people integrate, as new arrivals cannot access college classes in their first 6 months in the UK. We also run welcome sessions and social activities to aid cultural understanding. We give practical support, offer advice, and assist with registration to other essential services, including GPs and schools.
